John M Christiansen

John Merrill “Jack” Christiansen, M.D. died quietly on April 2, 2026 of complications of Lewy Body/Parkinson’s Disease. He lived a remarkably full 81 years. The first of Ann and Jack Christiansen’s three sons, Jack was born in Logan, Utah and raised in Salt Lake City. Along with younger brothers Bob and Mike, Jack grew up during the “glorious 50s” spending weekends at his grandparents’ “camp” up Logan Canyon, collecting comic books and baseball cards, playing catch with neighborhood boys, and taking summer driving trips with his dad to California, staying along the way in motels with a swimming pool. Jack belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was active in Boy Scouts, rising to the rank of Eagle. Attending public schools, Jack played tennis and team sports, but early honed in on academics where his “talents lay” (his words). He graduated as Valedictorian and Commander of the National Defense Cadet Corps (ROTC) unit of the Highland High School class of 1963.

Jack continued his education at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) graduating with Honors in Biology (Pre-Med), then went on to Harvard Medical School, where he developed his lifelong interest in ophthalmology. After a medical internship at the University of Utah, he did his Residency at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, doing research with and learning from and alongside people who made names for themselves in American ophthalmology. On one rotation, Jack served at the Pahlavi Hospital in Shiraz, Iran just before the Shah was deposed, adding a bit of Farsi to the German and Spanish in which he was conversant. Back in Maryland, as a Navy Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Public Health Service, he worked at the National Eye Institute and Bethesda Naval Hospital doing direct patient care and research important to understanding diabetic retinopathy.

In 1976, Jack returned west to join Dr. Paul Wetzig - another in a much-valued series of visionary mentors - at the Colorado Springs Eye Clinic (CSEC). Five years later he established a solo practice in general ophthalmology in the old Santa Fe Railroad Station just west of downtown Colorado Springs. For 36 years in that locale, he treated a spectrum of eye conditions in three generations of patient families. He was on the staff of both Memorial and Penrose hospitals and served a period as Chief of Surgery at St. Francis Hospital. Not ready to quit when the historic railroad station changed owners, in 2018 Jack resumed practice at CSEC, working part time until he finally fully retired during the pandemic of 2020. Dedicated to his profession, Jack was a lifetime member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Jack’s “extra-curricular” activities and interests centered around family, friends, church, scouting, and always involved learning, teaching. With then-wife Julia from 1984 to 2000 and wife Catharine in the 2000s he co-parented six much-loved children, helping launch them into careers in medicine, education, law, and business. Jack was active in the Broadmoor Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for more than 50 years, teaching Gospel Doctrine and as a home teacher. In the Boy Scouts for 60-plus years, he taught wilderness survival and firearms safety, mentored many Troop 1 scouts to Eagle rank, held leadership positions and finally earned the prestigious Silver Beaver award for his many years of volunteer service to the Pikes Peak Council. Every summer Jack would join friends for a week camping, shooting, hiking, or fly fishing; his last was on the Bighorn River. Jack was fortunate to be able to travel widely, to National Outdoor Leadership School and Wilderness Medicine workshops in Montana; to medical meetings in Puerto Rico and Hawaii; with his son’s school class to Germany; and on vacations with Catharine and family to Greece, Italy, Costa Rica, and Maine. As mobility became an issue, he and Catharine explored the western U.S. and visited their granddaughters in Texas in a camper van, which was, serendipitously, a good way to travel during the pandemic. He loved to read (especially military history), was “easily distracted by airplanes,” and was a fan of the Denver Broncos and Boston Red Sox, PBS specials, and “working out” at the gym.

Predeceased by his parents, younger brother Mike, and sister-in-law Carolyn, Jack leaves behind to remember him fondly and with admiration his wife Catharine Beecher; sons Ross Hanson (Emmy); John Christiansen; Gordon, Wilson (Desiree), and Steve Nitka; Celia Oosterhuis (Raphael); three beautiful granddaughters; brother Bob (Shannon); “favorite ex-wife” Julia (Kay); three brothers-in-law; dozens of nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews; esteemed colleagues and friends from every place and era in which he lived.

Jack will be buried in Salt Lake City near other members of his family of origin. A celebration of Jack’s life will be held at 2:00 p.m. on May 16, at Broadmoor Ward, 150 Pine Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to his church, or to the Lewy Body Dementia Association at lbda.org.